Electrode for storage batteries.



0.629,2613. l Patented my |8, 189,9.

g c. w. KENNEDY. l

ELECTRODE FOR STORAGE BATTERlES.

(Application tiled Apr, 30, 1898.)

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onAELEsiv.KENNEDY,or:EUTLEDGE,PENNsYLvAN1AAanGNoE,BY

' MEsNE 'AssieNMENTs-'ro 'ri-1E ELECTRIC PowEE DEvELoPMENT 00M- APANE;

ELECTRODE FOR STORAGE B ATTERIVES.

v SPECIFICATION foifnnng part of Letters Patent No'. 629,260, dated .mij-fis, ieee.

To LZZ' whom t may concern.-

Beit known that I, CHARLES W. KENNEDY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rutledge, .in the county of Delaware and State of 5 Pennsylvania,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electrodes for Storf age Batteries; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,-such as will enable others skilledV 1o in the art to which it appertains to make and use the. same, reference being had to the ac'- companying drawings, and to the lettersof reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification. 1' 5 Figure 1 isan elevation of an electrode constructed in accordance With-my invention. Fig. 2 is a similarview with thel frame or holder, the masses of klead tape being .Y removed.- Fig. 3 is a sectional view throughs cell having a series otmy.improved elec-4 trodes. 5 Fig; 4 isl plan viewof thefsarne. Fig. ois a vertical secti'onon the line x of Fig. 4. p Fig. 6 is a face View of one ofthe lead strips detached.- Fig. 7 is a'perspective y of a partof oneof the frames with these strips. As' is Well known, one ofthe objectionable features incident to electrodes for secondary K or storage batteries as heretofore constructed has been the excessive weight incident to pro? has not gone into more extensive use.`

The Vobject of the present improvements is to provide an electrode which shall lhave a maximum amount of active surface `and a` minimum amount of weight, and also to's'o arrange the masses .ofI active material that `louclrlingor`V Vwarping ofthe electrodewill be a top cross-bar a3. All ofthese bars may be 'cast integral.

surface of the electrode.

rstrips yin the adjoining compartments.

vidinga suitable amount of active surface?? This objection hasl been one of the lprincipal,l reasons 'whythis class of electrical apparatus y of lead, there being 4two parallel upright side pieces a a', abottoin connecting-piece c2, and

The interior of thisfra'me Av Application and April so, 189s. Srial trattasse. f uit atan.)

be formed integral with Vthe bars lor sides oi the outer -frame VA,`ii desired. In each of these interior holders B are arranged a series of strips of lead tape D, which form the active The strips D of lead 5 5 tape are securely held in position by means ot' having grooves or notches d formed in their ends and engaging with the opposite bars C of the holder B, in which theyare placed.v The strips of tape are arranged close together and 6o substantially fill the holder B, provision being of coursemade for the necessary expansionjof such strips.V Y The leadVv tapefD mayA haveV its surface'4 roughened by being passed betweensuitable rollers, and .the grooves'or notche'sd in the ends thereof may beformed in any suitable way, this portion of my present improve` mentsbeing similar to that described and illustrated in another application' filed by me 47o on April 13, 1898, Serial No. 677,466.

Byreference tothe drawings it Will be seen that the strips of lead'tapeDlin the different V,connpartinents or' holders B vdo not'allextend in tli'esame direction; but-the strips in each 75 y of such compartmentsor holders Blextend in afdirection atright angles to the length of the By this arrangement it will be vseen that I eectually prevent any buckling gr warping of 8o i v theelectrode, the frame-bars thereof being engaged in.all directions by the masses -of lead tape vD and theexpansion offene ofsuch masses inon'edirection being counteracted y by the expansion of another massin adiieri ent direction. -v

' The fulllines in Fig. 1 illustrating thelead strips show their position prior to the forming ofthe'battery. The dotted lines show their position after the forming and when the 9o battery is ready for use. The expansion -which invariablyT occurs in using Vthese batteries is provided for by leaving each-holder lorreceptacle for :the strips partially empty;

- any preferred manner.

through a large number of contact-points, because of the number of the lead strips. To insure a perfect contact at the ends of the strips, I, after the strips have been loosely inserted, as shown in full lines in Fig.' l, apply pressure to the sides ad j acentto the slotted ends, as by hammering or otherwise, to force the slot edges tightly against the sur-v rounding frame to insure a good electric contact.

The frame A is provided with an integral connector-lugA'in the ordinary manner, and in addition the top bar d2 is provided with three upwardly-extendinglugs E E E2. The lugs E E' are arranged relativclynear the opposite side of the frame A from the connectorlug A', while the lug E2 is arranged close to said lug A, but on the opposite sidethereof from the lugs E E. A cross-bar F, of any suitable material, may be secured to said lugs E E either to hold the electrodes in proper position relative to each other or to provide electrical connection between them and, if desired, a similar bar G may be passed between the lugs A and E2. The different plates or parts of each electrode may be connected together by transverse conductingbars in any of the usual ways. One of the lugs A is provided with a conducting lead or terminal A2, though more of these can be carried out from the cell and connected electrically for any desired purpose.

Vhile I have above described but one electrode, it will be understood that the positive and negative electrodes may be positioned in From the above description it will be seen that the supporting-frame of the electrode contains but a relatively smallamount of metal, and therefore the weight of the entire electrode is materially reduced, and, at the same time, by forming the masses of active material in the manner and arranging them in the peculiar way described and illustrated the amount of surface exposed for action will be much greater than it has heretofore been possible to attain withoutincreasing the total weight and size of the electrode to a prohibitive extent.

The spaces in the cell which are between the plates or parts of the electrodes I fill with clean sand or other equivalent hard non-conducting non-corrosive material of a granular nature, as shown at II. This accomplishes several purposes, it making a spongy receptacle for the liquid which is uniformly distributed through the mass of sand and is prevented thereby from spilling or slopping, which assists in keeping the electrodes in exactly theirpredetermin ed positions and avoids any short-circuiting of the sort often result ing from the dropping of scale and the lodging thereof at points between two of the electrodes. l

I am aware of the fact that long strips of 6.5

tape have been proposed as the active material for a storage battery, said strips to be looped back and forth and the loops pressed together and mounted in an exterior rectanguiar frame, together with sand placed between the two parts of each loop or between the adjacent laminze for the purpose of separating and spacing them and preventing them from lying too closely together in contact, these earlier electrodes being placed in the usual way in masses of liquid ;4 but in my case the sand or equivalent is used for materially different purposes, the exposure of lead surface being accomplished not by the sand, but by having the above-described indentations formed in the lead strips. The sand is to prevent the presence of liquid in masses or bodies and to break it up and distribute it through the mass of the sand, so that although present for electrolytic purposes there is practically no fluid in the cell.-

I do not herein claim a battery-electrode consisting of a series of strips of lead tape bound together faceto face and provided at their ends with grooves adapted to receive retaining-bars, preferring to claim the novel features incident to such a construction in my aforesaid other application.

Vhat -I claim is- 1. An electrode for a storage battery, con sisting of several parallel series of masses of active material, one series being vertically above another each mass comprising a series of parallel strips of lead tape, the strips in one mass extending at right angles to the strips in the next adjacent masses, and a frame or holder supporting all of said masses, substantially as set forth.

2. The herein-describedbattery-electrode, consisting of a'frame having several parallel series of holders formed therein, one series vertically above another and a series of strips of lead tape arranged within each of said IOO holders, the strips in each holder extending in a direction different from that of the strips in any of the surrounding holders, substantially' ries of strips of lead tape arranged within each of said holders, and engaging with the bars forming the same, the stri psin one holder extending in a different directionfrom the IIO strips in adjacent holders, substantially as 1 and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I aiiix lmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES W. KENNEDY.

Witnesses: GEo. W. CLEMENT, GEORGE RIDDELL. 

